The invention relates generally to home monitoring systems and more particularly to a system and method for predicting the likelihood of fall of a resident in a home.
Many elderly people are at risk from a variety of hazards, such as falling, tripping, or illness. For example, health statistics and studies show that falling is a major problem among the elderly. The risk of falling increases with age, such that, studies suggest that about 32% of individuals above 65 years of age and 51% of individuals above 85 years of age fall at least once a year. In addition, many elderly people live alone. Therefore, the elderly are at additional risk that they may not be able to call for help or receive assistance in a timely manner after experiencing a fall or illness.
As a result, systems that enable a resident of a home to call for assistance from anywhere in a home have been developed. In systems such as the Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS), the elderly or disabled individual wears a watch, pendent or other like device and presses a button in the event of an emergency, such as a fall. The depressed button enables an alarm signal to be automatically sent to a central monitoring facility, when the resident has fallen. A disadvantage of using these devices is that they have to be worn by the person in order to work and are useless if the person is not wearing them. Furthermore, these devices provide means to get help only after a fall has occurred. Thus, there is a risk that in an emergency situation, the resident may not receive proper assistance in a timely manner.
Certain systems rely on motion sensors to try to identify when a person has fallen. There may be extended periods where a resident is not moving for reasons other than the person having fallen or becoming incapacitated, such as watching television from a chair or sleeping in bed. Systems that rely on motion sensors require the person to be motionless for a considerable amount of time before the system is able to conclude that the resident has fallen or become incapacitated, as opposed to exhibiting normal inactive behavior.
Fall prevention screening techniques have also been used to identify a person's likelihood of falling. These techniques are traditionally performed through manual tests given by a trained professional, who determines the likelihood of fall risk for a person by identifying a set of typical fall risk factors that affect the person. A fall risk screening form is generally presented to the person that lists a set of possible fall risk factors for the person, and serves as a mechanism for the person to have these risk factors assessed by his/her therapist. A disadvantage with using fall risk screening techniques is that they are performed using manual tests that are only conducted periodically, such as for example, on a monthly basis. In addition, these techniques cannot be used to accurately predict future falls.
It would be desirable to develop a technique that enables the frequent monitoring of data and factors that increase the likelihood of falling of a resident in a home, in real time. In addition, it would also be desirable to develop a system and method for automatically predicting the likelihood of fall for a resident in a home.